Monday, 2 April 2012

You all know i have a big of background working with children, I've worked with a lot of children with difficulties. ADHD, Behaviour Problems, Down syndrome and Autism. Ive got to admit the one i found hardest was Autism, as you really don't know what to expect from day to day. One thing could turn that child in to a panicky scared little thing, screaming, crying, hurting other children. I have a lot of respect for parents that go though the day to day lives of having an autistic child, the pressure most be very intense. I have reasons to believe Raiden may be autistic, he does show some signs of the spectrum, but is going back to be re-tested in May.

So what is autism?

Autism is a complex developmental disability that causes problems with
social interaction and communication.

All people with autism are so very different from each other each with
their own problems and difficulties.

It is normally known as a spectrum disorder which is a group of disorders
with similar features.you may have one person with mild symptoms while another
has serious ones.

I recently read a blog post from My wonderful madhouse and asked if she wanted a guest slot on my blog! So here goes.

My son Ethan 4 has autism with it he also has very
lax ligaments speech problems and severe headaches and i as a parent and mummy
blogger aim to help him in as many ways as possible whether it be coping with
everyday life/schooling/speech, fun days out/experiences or products aimed to
helping children like him to make everyday living easier be it good sensory
toys/flash cards,clothing,good places to take them that understand your child's
additional needs etc.

The current autism
spectrum disorder category includes:

Autistic disorder

Asperger syndrome

pervasive developmental
disorder or atypical autism

There are 3 groups with a higher than normal risk of having autism these
include:

Boys

Siblings of those with
autism

People with certain other
development disorders such as fragile x syndrome

not making eye contact and
wanting to be alone (my son tends to give brief eye contact)

trouble understanding other
peoples feelings or talking about their own

not wanting to be held or
cuddled or only cuddling when they want to (this is what my son falls
under)

not seeming to notice when
people are trying to talk to them

being really interested in
people but not sure of how to talk,play or relate to them(i notice this
with my son all the time he will look and watch them often with a smile on
his face but often will not make a move to join in with their activities)

not interacting like others
would do or not being interested in others at all.

Symptoms relating to speech, language and communication can include:

standing too close to some1
when they are talking

speaking with a flat
sounding voice

inability to control how
loudly or softly they talk

stick with the same
conversation for too long

talking about what they like
rather than having a 2 way conversation

speaking well and knowing
loads of words but having trouble listening to others(my son cant speak
too well he is getting better but alot of what he says most people still
cant understand as it all sounds the same)

Repeated behaviours and routines:

People with autism might repeat actions over and over again,they tend to
like having routines where things stay the same so they know what to expect and
may have trouble with changes.

Development delay:

Children with autism develop differently from other children.where
children without autism develop at about the same rate in areas of development,
like motor,language,cognitive and social skills.children with it develop at
different rates in different areas . They may have large delays in
language,social and cognitive skills yet their motor skills are about the same
as other children their age.they may be good at puzzles or problem solving but
not at things others find easy like talking and making friends.you might also
find they can learn a skill but then seem to forget it again.

All kids are different whether they have a disability or not all these
children want is to be like everyone else they just need a little bit more help
than others the same age.

So the next time you see a child screaming its head off on the floor or
hitting out,or like my son did the other day at the bus stop he without warning
pulled his trousers over his bum exposing it shook it and shouted at top of his
voice my bum baby yours is big!!

please don't judge we have a hard enough time as it is helping our children
to learn right from wrong (although i must say i struggled not to laugh as this
woman kept staring at him for talking funny for his age!)

''Autistic children are not a burden they are a blessing with a hidden
disability ''